Missing (The Brannock Siblings Book 3), page 5
Then she realized it wasn't a joke and she prayed the floor would swallow her up.
He was so damn handsome in his dark blue dress shirt that made his grey blue eyes look like thunderclouds. His hair was perfectly messy and her fingers had almost reached out to run through it and tug.
Her already shallow breaths accelerated and she knew she was about to lose it.
Lily.
She needed her sister.
She ripped open her clutch and madly ripped her phone out, finding her sister's name and praying she would answer fast. The cab came to a slow stop at a red light two blocks from her apartment. An apartment she really didn't want to go back to for fear of seeing Gus, but she really needed to get out of this dress.
"Aren't you on a hot date? Why the hell are you calling me?"
"Oh, God, Lily. You will not believe who Dreamy is."
"Fergus Brannock?"
Aiden's heart thudded to a halt and anger gathered in her chest until her fingers constricted and the plastic on her phone started to creak. "What?" her voice barely came out as a whisper.
"Is it? I've been hoping it is and I have been seeing the signs, but I wasn't sure."
"What?" she said a little louder, a little more wildly.
"Oh, come on, Aid. You had to have noticed the similarities. I mean, I wasn't sure until I saw him leaving the apartment. Call it a good assumption."
Now that it was pointed out to her, yes, she should have noticed the similarities.
Dreamy worked a government job, a lot of nights. Technically, so did Fergus. Dreamy was witty, and clever, and funny, and smart, and so damn sexy it made her hurt all over when she spoke to him. Same with Fergus, only she had been holding onto the fact that he had been a jerk to her for so long, she didn't see it until it was too late. Like the right now kind of too late.
"Oh my God."
Lily started laughing and Aiden had never actually wanted to strangle her sister more until right that moment. "Wow! So it is him. I knew it! This is so awesome, I feel like I am going to pass out from the excitement."
"Exciting? You think this is exciting? I can't stand the man, Lil. He is an asshole. Yes, a very sexy, funny asshole, but still an asshole." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but it didn't help. "And a cop, Lil."
The driver glanced at her in the rear view mirror and raised his eyebrows, Aiden just rolled her eyes.
"You think he is an asshole only because you refuse to see the humor in all that's happened over the last few months," Lily said, exasperation evident in her voice. "And I've told you a hundred times, live your life. Not ours. Don't use my stupid mistakes as a guide on how to live."
"Whatever. I thought maybe my sister would rescue me from this horribly embarrassing event, but I was wrong. She's only going to laugh and say I told you so."
"Aid, wait-"
She pressed END before she could get sucked into feeling guilty about what she just said. She knew it was harsh, but she was panicking.
The cab pulled up to the curb in front of her building and she all but tossed the bills at the driver and burst out of the car. She stumbled only three times on her way to the front door and wasn't listening to whoever was calling her name across the street. They could shove it for all she cared at the moment. She plowed through the door and took the stairs two at a time, her legs burning and screaming at her to slow the hell down, but she couldn't. She needed to get to her apartment and fall apart there. Not where others could see her.
For so long, she had been waiting for the right man. The man who could understand her love for her art and for her family. The man that would never make her choose between him and Lily and Aidy. Not the way Brandon had made Lily choose. A man that would bring safety and laughter into her home. Dreamy had been that man. She knew it in her heart even if she never really talked about it with him. She didn't have time to go looking for someone on a whim and risk getting her heart torn to shreds. She had been so ready to have that with Dreamy.
Now, it was like the world had come to a stop and started rotating the opposite way.
She finally reached her floor and ignored the pounding on the stairs below her. Someone was seriously in a hurry and she knew their pain. She already had her keys in hand and unlocked her door more gracefully than ever before and stepped inside. Before she could slam it shut, a hand shot out and long fingers wrapped around the tattered wood.
She let out a high pitched squeak, sure that she was about to be attacked by some lunatic, but her fight or flight response shorted out when the rest of the body stepped into view.
Gus.
"Aiden, wait. God damn it! Did you not hear me yelling for you outside?"
Seriously? Now he was calling her by her name? So frustrating, but damn it if that didn't make the embarrassment she had been running on turn into a bunch of mutant butterflies flying in chaos through her stomach. She shook her head and felt her skin heat. She knew she wasn't paying attention, but to miss this man shouting for her. Wow, she had really checked out.
He stepped inside her door and his big body took up quite a bit of room. He slowly shut the door behind him and stood in her space. It took all of her will power to not step back, but she needed to stand her ground.
"Listen, I know this is a crazy situation we've found ourselves in, but I'm not one to throw something away just because it wasn't what I expected."
"What?" she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
Gus sighed and raked a hand through his hair.
Fucking distraction. She couldn't rip her eyes away if she tried and to be honest, she didn't really try all that hard. She wanted her hand to tunnel through all that soft hair. The man was even more beautiful than she had originally thought, looking all vulnerable and unsure of himself for the first time ever.
Her eyes found his once more and she gasped. Those blue and grey orbs had always looked at her with amusement or frustration, but right at that moment, she felt the hunger in them. Knew he wanted her as much as she suddenly wanted him, but she couldn't let that happen.
"You're supposed to be a total asshat!" she blurted out and the amusement she had become so familiar with returned to those eyes with a flicker.
"Yeah, and I still am. I…" another hand rake through that hair and Aiden was sure her knees would give out. Which would be unfortunate seeing how her dress would probably end up ripping somehow and she would for sure bust an ankle in these ridiculous heels.
His eyes slowly moved down her body and back up, lingering around her legs, hips, and then her breasts before stopping completely on her mouth.
"God, you're beautiful."
She blinked up at him and her mouth opened to make some kind of sarcastic remark, but nothing came to her. His gaze moved back and forth from her mouth to her eyes, waiting.
"I- I don't know… how the hell did this happen?" she breathed, her heart pounding so hard she felt like her ribs would break.
"Not sure, but I don't care how, I just care that it did."
"What?"
He looked so sincere when he spoke, but she was still waiting for the punch line. Surely he would say something that would snap her out of this daze, but he didn't. He just stared at her, almost breathing as hard as she was.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice raspy and warm, making those butterflies burst into flames as they continued to soar around her stomach. "I'm sorry for the way I've acted, the way I've treated you. I never felt like what I was doing was right, I just… you're so damn exquisite when you're mad and I couldn't stop myself."
I'm dreaming. This is some kind of nightmare that I need to wake up from, Aiden thought to herself. No way this would be happening in her reality.
"I know that doesn't make up for anything, but I've been talking to the woman of my dreams for a while now and there is no way in hell I'm giving her up because I was too dense to figure out that she was my arch enemy and right in front of me all along."
"Arch enemy? You really think that makes me feel better?" Aiden bit out, purposely ignoring the whole 'woman of my dreams' part. Acknowledging it would make her crumble and she refused to crumble. At least until he left.
He chuckled and took a step closer. She still didn't move away, too intrigued to give a damn about her personal space.
"Yes. Arch enemy. And no, I'm not trying to make you feel better, I'm just trying to be honest."
She rolled her eyes, but didn't put as much bitterness into it as she had in the past and he noticed. Honest. It would have been more honest if he had told her he was a cop. Then the last few months wouldn't have been wasted. His hand came up to her cheek and brushed a stray lock of red hair back behind her ear and her inner rant vanished.
"I thought I knew your voice like I knew my own. I mean, I'd dreamed about it every night, how could I miss it?" he said softly and she felt her body start to lean forward, reaching out for his warmth. The same warmth she had expected to feel later tonight with someone completely different in her mind.
"Same here," she blurted, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and cursing herself for not holding her tongue. This man didn't need to know how upset she actually was. It would give him too much power over her and the amount he had already was dangerous. He had literally been her best friend and it was killing her to know that he had been her enemy all along. The one type of guy she had promised herself she would never associate with.
Her head was spinning with the craziness of it all.
"You're my best friend, Aiden."
Great, now he was reading her mind. She needed to make a move and get him out of there. She was too close to bursting into tears and there was no way she could do that in front of him. She stepped around him and grabbed the doorknob, but his voice stopped her.
"Everything I have told you since we met online is true. I haven't had a date in a long time, I just don't have the time or the desire to do what I had done for so long. Meeting you on that site changed everything."
She whipped around and faced him, gathering all the icy hatred she could and forcing it into her voice because she wasn't going to be the vulnerable one here and let her need for love make the decisions for her. If he thought that his previous playboy ways were truly the problem, let him. It was the only argument she felt confident about.
"You mean to tell me that you don't have flocks of women groveling at your feet and begging for a date. That I'm the one you've been waiting for? God, don't be so dramatic, Fergus. Or should I call you Fergie?" she stated sarcastically with a wicked smirk. She knew that would piss him off and hopefully get him to leave.
Something snapped inside of him. Something powerful. His expression shifted and for a split second, she thought he was ready to kick her ass, but then just as suddenly, the angry look on his face changed. It was no longer angry, but it was still just as intense. With narrowed eyes, he stepped forward, like a predator, trapping her against the door. She spread her palms out at her sides and tried to hold onto the worn wood for dear life with the pads of her fingers.
He was toe to toe with her and leaned in even further, placing his palms against the door on either side of her head, caging her in. Her heart raced frantically and she tried not to breathe, but it didn't help. She could still feel the heat coming off of him and the electricity crackling between them.
"A lot of things that I would let you call me, Red. A few examples; Gus. Babe. Baby. God. Yes. Harder." He drew in a long breath and exhaled slowly, his blue and grey eyes hooded and dark, flickering back and forth from her eyes to her mouth again with something close to need.
If her heart wasn't pounding so hard, she would have thought she was dead already. He leaned in closer until his nose barely grazed hers and she could feel his erratic breaths caressing her lips. That's when she realized how badly she wanted him to kiss her. To gather all that intensity, all that anger, frustration, and enmity they had been throwing back and forth at each other over the last few months and take it out on her in ways she could only imagine. He was the type of man to turn all of that into passion and make her burn from the inside out. He was dangerous for her, but at that exact moment, she couldn't make herself give a shit.
Kiss me dammit!
She was ready to scream. To grab onto him and maul him to death, force him to take her. Before she could put action to her thoughts, he took a quick step back, taking his heat with him.
"Fergie isn't one of them." His voice was deeper, raspier than normal and it made her core clench as liquid heat pulsed downward. She didn't want to want this, but oh, how she wanted it.
He raked a hand through his hair once more and glared at her. "I need to leave."
Yes, he did need to leave. She tried to move away from the door, she really did, but her feet were cemented in place and her pulse felt like it was just one long hum with how fast it was going.
"Okay."
"Okay," he said, his eyes on her mouth once more. "I'm sorry, Aiden."
Strong hands wrapped around her upper arms and gently moved her to the side before releasing her quickly. Gus yanked open the door and disappeared through it. She didn't turn to watch him, but she heard his door open and slam shut before she was able to make her muscles work and shut her own door.
Her arousal was now at a simmer and cooling fast. She replayed every conversation she had with him, as Dreamy and as Gus and wanted to kick her own ass. They both deserved this for not figuring it out weeks ago, for thinking that the superficial details were insignificant.
No, she would have figured it out if he hadn't been such a jerk. If he hadn't been the bane of her existence. If he hadn't been so frustratingly fascinating. Yeah, she would have figured it out, but she didn't and it was his fault. Not hers.
He deserved this.
Then why the hell did she feel so empty at the thought of never speaking to him again like they had been? Spending hours on the phone laughing and finding more and more that they had in common. Why did she wish the date would have gone so completely different?
"Well," she sighed. "Not the best date I've ever had." She grinned at herself and lifted her foot so she could finally remove the cursed heels that she'd probably never use again. "Not the worst either."
***
"No, I'm not going to be home all day, Lil. I'm going out today to see if I can't find somewhere that I can use as a studio. My apartment isn't working anymore."
Lily sighed and Aiden figured her sister would end up bringing her dinner anyway. She had felt awful about not being on time to pick up Aidy, but she felt even worse that she hadn't been more understanding about what happened with Gus the night before. Aiden had tried to say she was sorry for being so harsh, but Lily wouldn't have it and still insisted that she was the one out of line.
Her sister was the best and she couldn't thank God enough for putting them together.
"Well, I'll still make some extra. Mom and Dad are going to call and talk to Aidy tonight so if we can get together, you can talk to them, too."
She sighed and rolled her eyes as she gathered her keys and purse and headed for the door. "Fine. Just text me before you come over so I can make sure I'm home. I really need to get cracking on finding a studio so don't expect to hear from me first."
"That's fine, just be careful and don't forget that Dad said he would help if you need it."
"I don't, but I'll let him know that myself. I've got enough put away to afford a few months of rent and if I can get these new pieces sold, I'll be golden."
"Great! Then I guess I'll see you tonight. Oh, and um, say hi to Gus for me if you see him. He was such a sweetie yesterday."
"No, you tell him yourself. I need to steer clear for a while."
"Whatever, Aid. Love you."
"You too, Lil. Bye."
She quickly locked her door while keeping an ear out for any movement next door. She could never be too cautious. She started to tip toe past his door when she heard a loud bang coming from the other side and stopped abruptly.
What the hell is he doing in there?
Another bang made her step closer, then a loud crash made her jump and she stepped right up to the door and started pounding.
"Gus? Are you okay?"
She pounded on the door a few more times before it swung open and a glowering, sweaty, and extremely fit Gus stepped into view.
Her eyes moved over his shoulders, down his heaving chest to a very distinct six pack that could seriously fund all panty corporations because she could swear hers had just melted on the spot.
"Red?"
Her eyes shot back up to his face. His expression had changed drastically and was anything but angry. Back to Red, huh?
"What the hell is going on in there? I heard crashing."
His brows furrowed and those blue grey eyes studied her face carefully, almost warily.
"I'm working out."
Well, duh. No wonder the sex god was sweaty and delicious… um, dangerous looking. Her tongue felt like it had swelled in her mouth at the image of him lifting weights and wiping his hard sweaty chest with a towel after getting it all wet from pouring a bottle of water- "What the fuck?"
"Excuse me?"
Oh, shit. I said that out loud. Quick, Aid, save yourself and get the hell out of here before you start to lick him.
"What kind of workout involves the sounds you would only hear at a demolition?"
"My kind, I guess."
That smirk paired with a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead… it was too much. Much too much.
"Okay, then. Bye." She whipped around, her purse swinging around maniacally in her haste and banging against the door jamb. She cringed and that pause was enough to stall her getaway.
"Hey, hold up a second," His hand clamped around her arm gently.
She didn't want to turn around, used all her willpower not to, but her body was apparently not in working order and the hum she was feeling at his touch was too interesting to ignore. When her eyes locked with his, she felt the arousal that had tapered off from the night before come racing back tenfold. Add that onto what she was suffering at the sight of him and she was surprised she could still stand up on her own, or even make coherent sounds when all she wanted to do was groan.
